Electroporation of a constitutively active form of Akt leads to a rapid fiber hypertrophy

Field of interest: Adult skeletal muscle is an extremely plastic tissue, rapidly modifying its size and function responding to changes in demands. In the lab we are focusing our attention on the intracellular signaling pathways regulating increases in both mass and function of adult skeletal muscle. Considering the significant problems which arise during aging, disuse and numerous other pathologies leading to muscle atrophy and weakness, together with the well-established beneficial effect of exercise, it is of fundamental importance to understand which pathways regulate muscle growth and how these can be linked to exercise.

Ongoing activities: We have currently three lines of research in the lab:

Dissecting the signaling pathways downstream of Akt activation responsible for the increases in muscle mass and force.

Identifying epigenetic changes after high-intensity exercise in both mice and humans.

Identifying the global changes in gene transcription and phosphorylation occurring during muscle growth.

We are using a wide range of physiological and molecular biological tools to address these questions in-vivo; electroporation, in-vivo and ex-vivo force measurements, various muscle-specific transgenic animals, basic molecular biology, ChIP-seq. Many national and international colaborators provide the expertise and technical support for specific parts of the projects.